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My mom used to make this cake for us all the time when we were growing up. Pineapple Upside Down Cake is an old-fashioned cake that sort of died down in popularity over the years. It’s delicious, though, and definitely deserves a comeback. I’ve altered my Mom’s original recipe to make the cake more moist and added more pineapple to it, but the basic recipe is still hers. It’s easy to prepare and my family loves it judging by how quickly it disappears every time I serve it!

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

⅔ cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 20-oz. can pineapple slices, drained and juice reserved

1 8-oz. can pineapple slices, drained and juice reserved (optional)

1 jar maraschino cherries

2½ cups flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

16 Tbsp. reserved pineapple juice from the cans

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup butter, softened

1½ cup white sugar

5 eggs

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place butter in a 9×13-inch cake pan and put it in the oven to melt the butter.

Arrange pineapple slices over the butter-brown sugar mixture in any pattern you want. You can leave the slices whole or cut them in halves or quarters to make a fancier design.

Cut a few maraschino cherries in half and nestle them, cut side up, around the pineapple slices in the cake pan. You can leave the cherries whole if you want, but my mom always cut them in half. Probably to save money.

In a medium bowl, stir flour, baking powder, and salt together.

In a small bowl, stir pineapple juice and vanilla together.

With an electric mixer, beat softened butter and white sugar on high until thick and light colored.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well-combined.

Reduce speed to low and beat in the flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with the pineapple juice mixture until just incorporated.

Pour cake batter evenly over the pineapple slices in the cake pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until cake springs back when pressed down lightly on top.

Allow cake to cool for 10-15 minutes, then turn it out onto a rectangular plate. If a pineapple gets left behind in the pan, just pick it up with a metal spatula and flip it over onto the spot it came from on the cake.

NOTE: You only need one 20-oz. can of pineapple, but if you want to completely cover the top of the cake with pineapple rings like I have pictured, you’ll find one can is about 2 slices shy. My family likes a lot of pineapple so I add the second smaller can, but if you don’t want to bother with that, you can make do with one 20-oz. can and just space the slices farther apart so they’re evenly distributed. Bear in mind, if you do decide to use just one 20-oz. can of pineapple slices, you might be a little short on the pineapple juice. Different brands have different amounts. If you’re short, just add enough water or cooking oil to make 16 tablespoons.